blog takeover + reflection

featuring erika roberts, ghc creative strategist

Erika Roberts is a creative force. With words written and spoken, she brings power to her art using her strongest tools: language and love. In this new blog takeover series, Erika not only gives us a look into what it’s like to be a collaborator forced to work from a distance during a global pandemic, but she’ll also introduce the GHC team through the lens of the shutdown later in the series.

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Beloveds, welcome back. 

This is the 10th BLOG!! 

WOW… 

I must be honest, as a poet I wasn’t sure if I would make it! Poetry is different from this type of writing but I am here and so are you. Thank you for coming back each week. I appreciate and value that. 

I do feel like I woke up and was here starting a new blog. This entry is #4 in the series about my GHC teammates. As in the 3 before, each person was given a word to write and expound around. The word that I gave Tara Poole was “sacrifice.” That’s a heavy word with deep meaning for many. 

Ask yourself “What have you sacrificed during the pandemic?”

I have been so extremely busy working, aka Zooming, all over the place for weeks. 

I am sure that you have too. Is it mE or does it seem that we have become even more busy in these times of social distancing?  Well, forsure I have. In March we rolled into a hard stop and paused for a while. As we came back to whatever we left life seemed to become more complicated and worrisome. We have been working and trying to take care of our friends and families. This is the time to pay attention to our friends and how they are handling life. This is undoubtedly the right timing to recognize what we have truly sacrificed over these last months. Some have sacrificed their very own lives. Some have sacrificed their peace. Some of us are steadfastly trying to reclaim our peace despite the forces that are trying to keep it.

Dive in….

Tara Poole is the Director of Operations for Glass House Collective. She keeps us in line which is an adventurous job! 

She is a wife and mother that uses that same nurturing quality to guide the daily operations of this collective. When you initially meet her it is her calm demeanor that hits first. She has the greater good at heart and that is felt in her presence. Tara wants the best for the Glass Farm community and that is evident in how she searches out programs that will benefit them with integration of the arts. 

As I arrived at her home I was welcomed by a beautiful chorus of flowers that poetically hugged the front of the house. It caught mE off guard honestly. The vivid colors danced in the sun and I applauded them with my eyes.  They needed to be noticed.  

My reaction reminded mE of a quote from one of my favorite movies:

Tara’s home was so tranquil and perfect for two women to sit and have a conversation about the sacrifices of motherhood and how to be present in a world that doesn’t always see us.  

She is white and I am Black with different struggles yet we both met in a space of compassion when we spoke about George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. That was humanity. 

We both agreed that a change has to happen and that the younger generations must be a part of it.

While my kids are grown and having their own kids, I agree. My grandsons must be raised in the shining light of truth ready to be agents in that progress.  

I spoke on how important it is to have strong, true and sincere allyship.   We talked at great length on how that can authentically begin. It is diligent work that isn’t always easy. There is immense sacrifice involved in this work.

I felt this in my heart. Truly. 

Thank you again for being with mE every week. I appreciate you all. 

Have a great weekend.

Reclaim your time and do something meaningful. 

~Erika